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The GOP Whale Chase

As the first quarter fundraising deadline fast approaches, the leading contenders for the 2008 presidential nomination are in a full-on sprint to raise cash and recruit the party insiders who can deliver it by the bagful.

The name of the game in this new fundraising world -- where winning the nomination could cost upwards of $100 million and the general election price tag may hover at $500 million per candidate -- is not finding a single rich donor but rather a well-connected donor. A lone, affluent individual can only donate $4,600 to a candidate for the entirety of the campaign. But recruiting a donor with a fat Rolodex who can bundle 10 or even 100 $4,600 checks ... well, then a candidate is in business.

At The Fix we call these big bundlers "Whales" and have spent considerable time tracking which of the candidates is enjoying the most success in the courting of them.

Thanks to President Bush's meticulous documentation of bundlers during his 2000 and 2004 campaigns, Republicans running in 2008 not only have a blueprint for building a huge national infrastructure but the names of the best construction workers in the business.

Starting last year several of the leading GOP candidates began courting the Bush-Cheney list of "Pioneers" (those who raised $100,000 for the president's campaign) and "Rangers" (those who collected $200,000 or more).

The battle for the bulk of the Bush money machine is currently a two-man race between John McCain and former Mitt Romney. Both have assiduously courted these coveted donors and already have much to show for their efforts.

By our latest count, McCain now has 29 Rangers and 19 Pioneers committed to collecting cash for his 2008 effort. Compare that to 20 Rangers and 11 Pioneers signed up with Romney.

Rudy Giuliani, who national polls put at the top of the Republican field, lags far behind with just seven Rangers and eight Pioneers in his camp. (We think Giuliani may be playing a bit coy, however, as his campaign has generally kept the details of its fundraising operation private -- perhaps in hopes of scoring a major surprise come March 31 when reports are due at the Federal Election Commission. Need evidence? Check out this post by the Politico's Jonathan Martin about Giuliani's upcoming D.C. fundraiser.)

Securing the most Rangers and Pioneers doesn't mean a candidate will win the nomination or even lead the money chase. But it is a significant yardstick for measuring establishment support in these (still) early days of the nomination fight. Whales tend to be savvy investors and don't throw their support and their money around lightly. The more whales McCain and Romney land, therefore, the more likely it becomes they will land even more. Even the super rich and super connected want to be with the winner.

Our full list of Republican Whales is below. Names that have not appeared before on The Fix are in ALL CAPS. The Fix's most recent post on the Democrats' money chance is online here.